Dance to the Piper

Welcome to the "somewhat" daily journal of the artistic director of the San Diego Ballet. Here you will find musings on the artistic and non-artistic side of running a not-for-profit dance company, as well as the occasional personal aside.

Thursday, September 05, 2013

September 4 & 5 2013

Svetlana Beriosva. Still computerless at work. So just a picture of one of my favorite ballerinas. This image reminds me of a few things.

The first was someone asking Alexandra Danilova the difference between a ballet dancer and a ballerina. She said (paraphrasing) "Well, in the first case, yo go to see a production of Giselle. When the ballet dancer comes out on stage you think "Pretty girl. I hope she does well." When a ballerina comes out on stage you think "Ah!"

Which brings me to a writer talking about Beriosova teaching the mime in Swan Lake to a younger dancer. Beriosova was just in her street clothes, but when she gestured you could see the ripples of the lake appear around her.

But lastly, it reminds me in these days of ballet dancers that sometimes look like living skeletons who can't go into a position without taking their foot over their head, that beauty can sometimes be a very human thing. That a beautiful leg actually has a shape to it. And that a beautiful arabesque does not necessarily requires a dancer to throw their back out.

Daily Stuff: Yesterday, worked on the Fall postcard. Had to go back to scratch because of the lost computer. Did most of it.

Back to teaching adult class on Wednesday night at SDSB. Nice group.

Started today with a meeting regarding the Luce Auditorium. It wasn't the most positive meeting but at least everyone was speaking plainly and we know how we need to move forward.

I should get my computer back tomorrow, but not the data. Have to take the hard drive to a specialist. So put finishing touches on the Fall postcard.

Also finalized one of the pieces for the Fall show. It will be the last piece that Daivid Buge wrote for the company, Reminiscence.

Signed contracts and put a deposit down for the Lyceum. While I was there the In The Heights set was in the dumpster. So I fished out part of a downstage tumptie as a momento.

Tuesday, September 03, 2013

September 3 2013

Fred and Ginger in Roberta. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes.I have always liked this particular number (well I like most of their numbers). But this one has Rogers in an uncharacteristically dark dress. The pic is actually a bit more erotic than the dance itself. But the dance does have a particularly lovely assisted bouree in a backbend. No pic of 24 Preludes for at least a couple of days as my work computer is on the fritz.

Daily Stuff: AERO meeting today. So we had a nice talk about arts in education. I over slept, but luckily there were two meeting choices, morning and afternoon. So I made it to the afternoon.

Dropped by SDB. First day back for the school, so it was busy. Couldn't really stay and work because the 'puter is still in the shop.

Sunday, September 01, 2013

September 1 2013

Screen Capture 24 Preludes Dancer: Camille McPherson

Daily Stuff: Closing show today for SUDS at New Village Arts. Did the long drive up to Carlsbad. The performance was sold out, but they managed to find me a seat. In the pre-show, I found out that the show has broken their box office attendance records. Always nice to hear.

Thank you to my lovely cast, who did such a wonderful job and always gave 110 percent.

Saturday, August 31, 2013

August 30 & 31 2013

Screen Capture 24 Preludes Dancer: Camille McPherson

Daily Stuff: It's hot. Yesterday, taught company class again. Gave a lot of small corrections. It is nice when you have a responsive class.

Did the zoo in the heat. For those who don't know me, I don't really change the way I dress according to the season. Comes from growing up in Southern California. So I was in my navy blue sweats in the high heat of midday. Oh well, at least it made me feel as if I was working out. The bears were all in their swimming pools again. The reptiles all seemed friskier. I guess they like the heat, being coldblooded and all.

Will be catching up on house upkeep today. The neglected garden and such.

Thursday, August 29, 2013

August 29 2013

Screen Capture 24 Preludes Dancer: Camille McPherson

Daily Stuff: Had a nice meeting regarding our new SDB webpage. It is going to be a lot easier to make changes to and keep current.

Then horror of horrors, my computer at work froze up. Turns out my hard drive is failing. So had to take it in to the Apple Store. And then to an Apple specialist. Hopefully they will be able to retrieve some data before they replace the hard drive. It will take about a week. So I'll be on the laptop for a while.

Picked up payroll and dropped off some deliverables to the Commission for Arts and Culture.

Anyway, made it to the Zoo in the evening and and it grounded me. It's nice to have the daily regimen. Hot though. The animals were all taking advantage of their pools.

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

August 28 2013

Screen Capture 24 Preludes Dancer: Camille McPherson. Although most of the variations are in simple black and white costumes, I wanted to do a couple of variations with tutus. We still kept it simple though.

Daily Stuff: Company class this morning. Had more boys than girls, so that was a fun novelty :)

Regula admin stuff. Spoke to some artists to solidify the Fall program. We had to drop a venue for Nutcracker. Scheduling mix-up. It was a good thing that the brochure hadn't gone to print yet.

The zoo was nice today. Not many people, so I had it all to myself most of the time I was walking.